| Sniping is the practice of placing a bid in auction which | | | | sniping is against the rules, so you should log in well |
| is about to end. What happens is that a person | | | | before the auction ends, and then raise your bid to |
| rushes into an auction at the last moment, and bids | | | | be the highest bid, with plenty of time to spare: You |
| just a little higher than the previous highest bid - as | | | | then simply need to keep an eye out to make sure |
| the clock runs out of time - thus winning the auction. | | | | that nobody else outbids you. The key thing to |
| Sniping is supposed to be against the rules at eBay , | | | | remember, if you've been logged in for a while, your |
| but that doesn't seem to stop many people doing it. | | | | activity can hardly be considered sniping, and |
| Indeed, in most cases, even if you report sniping | | | | therefore eBay should not give you any trouble. |
| activity, the sniper will get away with it, and you will | | | | The other option that you have is to use automatic |
| have lost the item that you wanted to win. Or, to | | | | bidders. These come in the form of bidding software |
| put it another way, if you want to avoid losing items | | | | or services that have been specifically designed for |
| to snipers, you need to find a way to beat the | | | | the purpose of snipping. In fact, if you are up against |
| snipers! | | | | a sniper who is using a sniping software or service, |
| The first and most obvious way to beat snipers, is | | | | then using one yourself is the only realistic hope you |
| the safest, but not necessarily easiest: simply keep | | | | have of beating them. However, while these types |
| up with all activity on the item that you are bidding in. | | | | of items are relatively easy to find, and while eBay |
| What you need to do is make a note of the date | | | | relatively rarely enforces their anti-sniping rules, the |
| and time that the auction will end, and make sure | | | | thing to remember is that eBay does have rules - |
| that you are logged into your computer and watching | | | | and violating those rules can get you permanently |
| the auction well before that specific time. You can | | | | banned from eBay . In other words, however |
| then bid higher than the previous high-bid during the | | | | tempting these software and services might be, if |
| last few seconds, or simply make sure that nobody | | | | you decide to use them, you need to be aware that |
| outbids you. Of course, you need to remember that | | | | you're taking a huge risk. |